[AMRadio] Valliant 1

[wwd at netheaven.com]

In <cf.17a9154c.2a23c151 at aol.com>, on 05/27/2002 
   at 01:05 PM, ATanner283 at aol.com said:

>I am currently working on a Valliant 1 I am trying to get on the air.
>There  was a discussion (I'm pretty sure it was one of these reflectors)
>about using  solid state devices for replacement of the 866 regulators.

Not quite the 866 function here.

>They are very  pretty and all that, but really unreliable. I already had
>one short and had a  big arc under the chassis before the fuse popped.
>Please some info on doing  this.

Most likely NOT the fault of the 866's. Please unplug this rig now, and
revert to 'bench-mode'. Hate to see good iron get trashed as it is getting
scarce.

> I had a problem also in that the dim
>past some one recapped this rig  with higher than print specs caps.
>Called for 15ufd and they put in 22ufd. I  believe this makes the pwr
>supply work harder.

Belief vs knowledge, Mankind's constant challenge .  .  .

> They also grounded one end of the caps, and grounded
>the center tap of the HF xfrmr. It appears when you  measure this leg it
>IS ground, however the .202 ohm resistance for the plate  meter is in
>there. REALLY hard to read. Any how that made the plate and mod  meter
>inop. Fixed that up

Hope you didn't fix it by bringing meter to B+ side!

>(have to order caps) but now can't get the plate to 
>dip on 40 and lower. Also have too much plate current for drive. Have 
>replaced finals and neutralized them. This helped too. Any thoughts on
>these problems???

> Thanks....(rig puts out RF by the
>way...plenty).........Al/W8FAX

Gee, a nice Heath Cheyenne just went for $43-US on eBay. Might be a better
starter rig.

Do you have an ARRL handbook ca 53 - 75? Online can't be a substitute for
the Handbook. You've gotta go back and forth section by section. Takes
time. Every point you raised here is a whole chapter in itself. Keep at it
and use the archives. And not every mod published is a good one, or a good
one for YOU. Doing mods/repairs without knowledge can be counter
productive. 

First get the power supply solid and complete. Solid state it if you want,
but this is not necessary for your first rig. 3B28's should be easy to
find and better behaved. Test the ps completely without any circuit
connected to it. Use a couple load resistors as a substitute for the V1
circuits. Then treat each section of the rig individually. Count on having
that rig up on end for months.

Good luck.

Bill  K2AME
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